In this episode of “The Battle for Progressive Media,” Margareth Dominique and John Riley examine the internal conflict that has gripped the station for the two years since the last station board election. The segment includes footage from three station board meetings that board member and candidate Paul DeRienzo’s disrupted by shouting abusive and discriminatory statements, sometimes for extended periods, which eventually led to his suspension from the board. We’ll also look at the support given DeRienzo by his allies in ACE/WBAI, the current incarnation of “List-Prog,” a slate that ran in the last two elections. We’ll discuss the proposal of the Justice and Unity Campaign to implement their five-year plan to add new channels to WBAI’s broadcast signal by adding multi-channel High-Definition Radio, combined with utilizing its unused sideband signal and a new Internet stream. Justice and Unity members explain their call for Pacifica campaign finance reform and their successful advocacy for a Pacifica-produced national Spanish-language news program.

In this episode of “The Battle for Progressive Media,” Margareth Dominique and John Riley examine the internal conflict that has gripped the station for the two years since the last station board election. The segment includes footage from three station board meetings that board member and candidate Paul DeRienzo’s disrupted by shouting abusive and discriminatory statements, sometimes for extended periods, which eventually led to his suspension from the board. We’ll also look at the support given DeRienzo by his allies in ACE/WBAI, the current incarnation of “List-Prog,” a slate that ran in the last two elections. We’ll discuss the proposal of the Justice and Unity Campaign to implement their five-year plan to add new channels to WBAI’s broadcast signal by adding multi-channel High-Definition Radio, combined with utilizing its unused sideband signal and a new Internet stream. Justice and Unity members explain their call for Pacifica campaign finance reform and their successful advocacy for a Pacifica-produced national Spanish-language news program.

This Fall the Battle for Progressive Media returns to the air. In the second program of the season we’ll examine the long time struggle of the representation of communities of color over the airwaves of New York’s WBAI radio. We’ll profile a key figure at WBAI, Bernard White, the Program Director. Then we’ll also look at a harsh opponent of Mr. White, Local Station Board Member and candidate in this fall’s board election, Steve Brown. We’ll examine the controversy over Mr. Brown’s public e-mail campaign against Bernard White and the station over the last few years and the assertions that these e-mails promoted racist stereotypes and have damaged fund raising for the station. The local board voted to disassociate itself from Brown’s e-mails and public postings which have included such statements as, "you should have been at her side whacking Bernard with a baseball bat".

WBAI and Communities Under Siege Worldwide:
The Vital Need to Preserve This Survival Tool

Plus: A special report on evidence of U.S./Israeli war crimes gathered on a recent trip to Lebanon

Cable TV Series: "The Battle For Progressive Media"

For more info on the controversies surrounding WBAI and progressive media, tune in to "The Battle for Progressive Media" on Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Channel 34, every other Monday, from 10:00-10:30 pm (also on Ch. 107 in RCN cable system). The next broadcast is Monday, Nov. 22 from 10:00-10:30 p.m.

If you have a DSL or Fast Internet connection, you can view it live as it streams at www.mnn.org by just clicking on Channel 34 at that time. To find the schedule, click on the cable guide at www.mnn.org.

This will be broadcast on other cable systems, click here for a schedule. To sign up for our occasional alerts, please Click HERE to get an e-mail with the broadcast schedule in the NYC/NJ area.

Episodes

The first episode, "PACIFICA: The Battle of the Grassroots," describes the successful campaign to drive the corporate coupsters out of the network and charges that the newly elected Local Station Board majority has created a state of siege for WBAI staff and management. Click HERE to view this mp4 video, which can be viewed using Quicktime. (54Meg-may take 3-30 min on high-speed internet to download) Click HERE for a lower quality but smaller realplayer file.

The second episode, "Racism, Leadership and the Future of WBAI", looks at the June WBAI Local Station Board (LSB) meeting discussion of a motion disassociating the board from racially inflammatory statements made by board member Luanne Pennesi in public e-mails. Pennesi called on WBAI listeners to boycott the station, called for the firing of management and most of the staff and asked General Manager Don Rojas to “Examine the background of virtually all the newly hired Blacks and friends of the management. It is time we recognized that you have accepted the station's trajectory into hell.” In this episode board member Alice Shields defends the right to free speech, including hate speech. We’will also look at the antagonisms some board members have towards General Manager Don Rojas and Program Director Bernard White. Click HERE to view this mp4 video (59 Megabytes, may take 3-30 minutes to download.)

The third episode looks at "The Removal of Father Lawrence Lucas" from the board and how community activists demanded he be reseated. This episode also explores controversies surrounding the boards decisions on how to implement waivers. Click HERE to view this mp4 video (22 Meg, may take 3-15 minutes to download.)

The fourth episode, titled "Battle of the Budget," looks at recent struggles over station funding and workers' rights. In September, WBAI's Local Station Board majority, led by an alliance of the self-named LIST-PROG slate and associates of health entrepreneur Gary Null, tried but failed to slash the budget by some $800,000. At the next meeting in October, they passed a motion to slash the budget by more than $450,000, which would have resulted in the layoff of 6 staffers. In the end, the Pacifica National Board stepped in to pass a budget which resulted in no staff layoffs--for now. The episode also examines efforts by Mr. Null and a supporter on the board to undercut the station's fundraising. Click HERE to view the thumbnail version (20Meg) Click HERE to view this mp4 video file (30Meg). Or click HERE. (80Meg)

For background on these issues, go to bottom of this email and check http://www.justiceunity.org.

Also remember: To vote in this fall's WBAI elections for Local Station Board, you must be a member in good standing by AUGUST 31. To qualify, you can either donate at least $25 -- which you can do online (via secure credit card transaction) at http://www.wbai.org or by calling 212-209-2800 -- or give three hours of volunteer time (or for a third option, a fight is underway to create a process to provide hardship waivers). Please urge all your friends to sign up now!!

Is the attack by members of the station's local board a matter of individual quirkiness or the enactment of a plan to remove Africans from the management and the air at listener-sponsored WBAI? What about the other "progressives" on the board who silently observe the process?

With a decreasing number of outlets for discussion and reporting on the work of grassroots struggles against bad schools, gentrification and neighborhood displacement, health risks and environmental racism, fewer jobs and more prisons, what needs to be done to preserve WBAI as a tool of liberation?

Join Bob Law, Gary Imhotep Byrd, Omowale Clay, Ayo Harrington, Eddie Ellis, Mimi Rosenberg, and others for an examination of the role of media and in particular, of radio-the most accessible and portable form of communication.

Event organized by the WBAI Black Caucus
For more information, email <wbairesistance@excite.com>

Venue and date to be confirmed later
Newark, New Jersey
Event organized by the People's Organization for Progress

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Materials and references will be provided at all events.
For further information, email <wbairesistance@excite.com>

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WBAI STATE OF EMERGENCY:
The push to remove Africans from the top

Who: WBAI Black Caucus

When: Saturday, 7/10/04, 4:00 pm

Where: Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Street at 120th Street, Harlem

Is the attack by members of the station's local board a matter of individual quirkiness or the enactment of a plan to remove Africans from the management and the air at listener-sponsored WBAI? What about the other "progressives" on the board who silently observe the process?

With a decreasing number of outlets for discussion and reporting on the work of grassroots struggles against bad schools, gentrification and neighborhood displacement, heath risks and environmental racism, fewer jobs and more prisons, what needs to be done to preserve WBAI as a tool of liberation?

Join us for an examination of the role of media and in particular, of radio - the most accessible and portable form of communication.

For more information, call WBAI's Black Caucus at (718) 859-0857.

Victory Party for the

WBAI Justice and Unity Campaign

Saturday, April 10th

7pm-12 am

105 East 22d Street, 4th Floor
between Park & Lexington Aves.

NYC - #6 train to 23rd

Potluck dinner

Yes, bring your instruments!

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This Saturday evening, the WBAI Justice and Unity Campaign will celebrate victories won in the first democratic Local Station Board elections at WBAI/Pacifica radio this past February. The J&U Campaign won eight seats out of the 24 at stake. We celebrate the work we have all done together to begin repairing this communal resource we have in WBAI.